Food, Mineral or Vegetable

This morning was our first ultrasound and I’m thrilled (and relieved) to report that it went well. The doctor was pleased, we saw the baby (well, as much as you can see) and we saw the flickering of a heartbeat. And what was the very first thing I said when I saw all this? “It’s so cool to finally see something in there and not a big ol’ empty space!” Maybe not a phrase you'd see in a Hallmark card or embroidered on a pillow but that was the first thought that came to mind.

We go back in exactly two weeks from today to hear the heartbeat. Yes folks. I'm in yet another two-week wait! It's like the universe WANTS me to keep writing on this blog and not start a whole new one! :)

Last week, I told my niece and nephew that according to the Baby Center, the baby (then at five weeks) was the size of a sesame seed. I told them that that very morning, I had a sesame seed bagel, grabbed one of the seeds, showed it to Sam and said, “Look! It’s our baby!” They found this utterly hilarious. I’m so pleased they find their Aunt Jay’s warped sense of humor amusing.

According to Baby Center this week (6 weeks), the baby is the size of a lima bean. When Sam and I saw the ultrasound today, we confirmed to one another that the baby does, in fact, look like a lima bean. Not only can we now not stop ourselves from calling the baby lima bean but we can't dare eat any legumes anymore.

I promised myself I would not give a nickname to the baby. I know many do and that’s totally fine if that’s what you feel comfortable with but for me, I just didn’t feel right doing that until we were at least past the first trimester. I’m not buying anything for the baby, I’m not changing my twitter name and I’m not telling the public at large until we’re at least past the first week of August. Of course, I’m already emotionally attached so none of this will necessarily make things any easier if something were to go wrong but still, I feel the need to wait until we're in somewhat safer waters.

Also, if I’m being honest, despite being someone who named her uterine polyp, Jackson Polyp, I was never very comfortable with the overwhelming cutesy-poo factor of naming your fetus something like “sugar kitten or “lil’ angel muffin” or something like that. I say that with the sincerest respect to my fellow pregnant friends who have come up with nicknames for their babies. I promise - I'm not saying that all nicknames are bad or nauseating, I’m just saying that there have been a few that have been so sweet that the mere mention of them have given me a cavity.

Now that we’re calling it lima bean (at least this week), does that mean that I’m going to start calling the baby whatever noun, fruit or vegetable the Baby Center sends me from week to week? I sincerely hope not. That seems too fickle and strange. “I’m so in love with our little cumquat!” Or “Our little baseball is getting so big!”

I’m either going to have to resign myself to just calling our baby “the baby” or coming up with a nickname that doesn’t make me feel like it’ll induce eye rolling or gagging every time I use it.

And speaking of gagging, I asked my doctor if using deodorant/ antiperspirant was ok as the organic Tom's Deodorant has been making me gag from how bad I smell. She said I should really try to use “aluminum free” deodorant. Dammit. I’m going to have to start looking into other brands… and I have a feeling I’m going to go through a whole lot of them before I find something effective.

I’m warning you now – don’t be surprised if pretty soon, I write a blog entry called, “The Many Smells of Jay”. Oy.